Goal Setting 101 Is Live On Udemy.com

Goal setting is an art. Proper goal setting, I mean. I learned this the hard way, mind you. I learned this by countless of trials and errors, for the last 15 years.

I used to think that I know what a goal is and how to set meaningful and attainable goals. But, after falling down countless of times, each time I got up I realized there was something that I still had to learn. It was a long and painful process. But, in the end, I think I found a solution.

A solution that allowed me to set BHAGs (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals) so hard to believe, that almost nobody, except me, believed them. For instance, I ran my first marathon after I reached my forties, and finished a second marathon only 6 months after that. A marathon is a serious goal, believe me.

I also wrote 6 books, and 2 of them have been translated into Korean. I never, ever thought that something like this was possible. Yet, it happened. And the main reason all of these goals have been reached was because I learned how to properly set and manage my goals.

During the last couple of months I tried to put together what I learned about goal setting, in a series of short, fun and effective lectures. I grouped them in course called Goal Setting 101, which is now live on Udemy.com.  It contains 14 lectures and over 2 hours of original video content. Here’s the structure:

1. Introduction [Who am I and what to expect from this course]
2. The Difference Between A Goal And A Monkey [A personal story from my life, back when I was overwhelmed with so much stuff on my plate, will tell you the difference between a goal and a monkey. You will also learn what a “monkey” is, from a goal setting perspective (yes, we’re not talking about those monkeys at the Zoo) and you will find out the most important quality of a goal.]
3. Definition And Base Concepts [In this lecture you’ll find the 3 fundamental qualities of a goal (apart from accountability, that is) and you will understand the basic components of the goal setting process.]
4. How Goal Setting Works – Assess [In Assess, you will have to correctly define your goal, assess the impact of achieving it on your life, do as much research as possible and brainstorm whatever you have to do in order to reach to that goal.]
5. How Goal Setting Works – Decide [In the “Decide” realm we measure and plan. Remember the brainstorming thing we did back in the “Assess” realm? Now it really pays back. Now it’s the moment to take each and every action in those projects and assign a time and a space to it. That’s what you do in Decide: you sign a contract to actually do something (but, as in any contract signing, you don’t do it yet, you just commit that you’re gonna do it).]
6. How Goal Setting Works – Do [The “Do” realm is where things get difficult, where you have to exert a certain discipline or at least to follow a carefully crafted plan, namely the one you created in the “Decide” realm. But this is also where the circle is finally closed, this is where you actually make things happening. This is where you work.]
7. Putting It All Together [How to put everything together. Linking together the assessment, the decision and implementing the real actions. A detailed description of how one can implement and “Assess – Decide – Do” framework, using pen and paper. Also, attached are a few templates which will help you do that in an easier way.]
8. How Goal Setting Works – The Quantum Element [We live in an ever changing world and, most of the time, the initial goal we set, will change. Not much, but it will change somehow. Most of the time it’s about the thing we want: maybe it’s not available anymore in the exact shape and form we knew when we first wanted it. Maybe it’s about the type of the relationship we wanted: it’s not exactly the same, but it’s pretty close to what we really wanted. In short, the quantum element is the unexpected modification we get by uncontrollable factors.]
9. Goal Sharing – Is It Working? [Pretty much every goal setting course will emphasize the need to share your goals, in order to make you accountable, to react to peer pressure, and so on. I found 5 reasons for which you should share your goals, but also one very important reasons to keep them secret.]
10. The Magic Fairy Exercise [You know the story of the lost Bedouin in the desert who suddenly stumbles upon the magic fairy? And then he asks her to fulfill 3 wishes for him? No? Well, then watch this lecture and be prepared to be surprised. ]
11. Reaching Next Level [How do you know you reached your goal? How do you know it was worth the time and effort? And what happens if you can’t reach your goal. Here are the answers to these questions. And to a few others, closely related to these ones.]
12. The “Goal Setting Burn Out” Syndrome [Sometimes, too much goal setting can turn your life upside down. Here we learn how to identify this syndrome, and how to overcome it.]
13. Bonus One: What Kung Fu Panda (the movie) Can Teach You About Goal Setting [I’m a big fan of cartoons. Especially fond of Kung Fu Panda. Not only because I love heroes, but because this movie carries several very important lessons. We’re gonna take a look at 5 of them.]
14. Bonus Two: What Inception (the movie) Can Teach You About Goal Setting [“Inception” is one of the best psychological movies I saw in the last 10 years. It also packs a punch when it comes to new ways to create and manage reality. In this bonus we’ll see 5 things I learned from Inception, the movie.]

As I said, the course is already live on Udemy.com, just do a search in the marketplace with the keywords “goal setting 101” and you’ll find it. Alternatively, you can just use the direct link below:

Goal Setting 101

Now, the goodies 🙂 I have a few free coupons. Free as in free beer. So, if you want to be in the first 20 lucky people to get the course for free, just redeem this code:

gift4goals

and you’re set!

One more thing: I’d really appreciate any feedback, suggestions or criticism. This is how we learn, after all, isn’t it?

Later edit: the free coupon batch is over now, but you can still get the course at a very decent discount, by using the coupon dragosblog.